Chapter 116: Fifth Tier

Above the grand hall.

Lin Yuan sat high on the master seat, gazing down condescendingly, like a Divine Being in the heavens.

The nine Heaven-grade Demonic Path grand arrays vibrated incessantly.

As if they had encountered their master, they only quieted down after a long time.

Xiahou Yuan was extremely special. All the demons in the world, as long as they Cultivate Cultivation Techniques of the Demonic Path, had to kowtow upon seeing him. This was suppression originating from the essence of life.

Even if one's strength surpassed Xiahou Yuan, they would still be affected, though at most the influence wouldn't be as great, not to the extent of having to kowtow upon meeting.

Of course, only Xiahou Yuan himself was clear about this matter.

As for those Devil Heads and Demonic Lords who had once followed Xiahou Yuan, they did not know the profound mystery within; they only knew that when facing Xiahou Yuan, they could not raise any intention of resistance.

Demon Lord Mo Yang and the other nine Demonic Lords thought that with the nine Heaven-grade demonic arrays, they could make Xiahou Yuan retreat in the face of difficulties, or at the very least block the opponent.

But it was a pity.

Although the nine-grade demonic arrays were powerful, they required Devil Heads to operate them.

As long as it involved Devil Heads, Xiahou Yuan remained in an undefeated position.

This was also Lin Yuan's source of confidence to enter the underground palace alone.

Outside the underground palace, Lin Yuan had long since perceived the auras of those nine Demonic Lords.

Besides, the current Xiahou Yuan was no longer the past Xiahou Yuan.

With the numerous methods mastered by Lin Yuan, he would only be stronger than the original Xiahou Yuan, and absolutely no accidents would occur.

As the aura of Lin Yuan, who sat upon the master seat of the grand hall, converged,

the eight Demonic Lords present and that Demon Lord Mo Yang only felt a weight lift from their hearts.

As if unloading a burden of ten thousand catties, they were at least able to slightly control themselves,

and no longer kneel and kowtow involuntarily like just now.

Only.

Even so,

the nine of them did not dare to stand up without authorization,

and still respectfully knelt prostrate on the ground.

The scene that had happened previously was unforgettable to them for a lifetime.

Especially that Demon Lord Mo Yang, who even more clearly perceived that sense of terror originating from the depths of his Primordial Spirit and Soul.

"Why… It has already been twenty-five years."

Demon Lord Mo Yang's mind trembled. Twenty-five years ago, he had this feeling before Xiahou Yuan.

He had originally thought that after twenty-five years, his strength had advanced another half-step, reaching the extreme of the Ninth Realm.

Coupled with Xiahou Yuan being suppressed for twenty-five years and his Physical Body locked down with millennia-old deep-sea refined gold, even if he could come out, it was impossible for him to have the strength of his Peak period.

Under the waxing and waning of strengths,

when he faced Xiahou Yuan again, it wouldn't be like twenty-five years ago, right?

However, reality dealt him a harsh slap in the face.

Unchanged.

Without any change at all.

Be it the nine Demonic Lords,

or driving the nine Heaven-grade demonic arrays,

no matter how strong their strength was, upon seeing Xiahou Yuan, it was like mice seeing a cat, trembling as they awaited trial.

"Respectfully welcoming the Exalted One to break the Seal of the Great Abyss."

Demon Lord Mo Yang steadied his mind and immediately spoke respectfully toward Lin Yuan, who sat upon the master seat.

He understood that this was a time of life and death for him. If he did not continue to display his intent of submission,

with Xiahou Yuan's past personality, he certainly wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

What a joke.

The former Xiahou Yuan was decisive in killing, cold-blooded and ruthless. Before that righteous-demonic war twenty-five years ago,

no one would have thought that Xiahou Yuan would stumble over a woman.

"The Exalted One?"

The remaining eight Demonic Lords took a deep breath and spoke in unison, "Respectfully welcoming the Exalted One to break the Seal of the Great Abyss."

Lin Yuan sat high on the master seat without any particular surprise.

Devil Heads did not value face or dignity, and Demonic Lords were no exception. Under the pressure of life and death, re-submitting to Xiahou Yuan was completely normal.

Perhaps the days after submitting to Xiahou Yuan would not be pleasant,

but if they did not submit, there would be no subsequent days at all.

"All of you, get up."

Lin Yuan pondered for a moment and spoke directly.

"For nearly twenty-five years, give me all the intelligence of the Five Regions, especially the intelligence of the Heaven Sword Sect."

This time, Lin Yuan came to the underground palace in person. Aside from finding a suitable location for a Breakthrough, he also intended to integrate the scattered Demonic Path forces.

No matter which world it was, even if one was invincible under heaven, going it entirely alone was always somewhat inconvenient.

It was impossible for him to personally handle everything, right?

Lin Yuan subjugated the nine Demonic Lords and received the remaining Demonic Path forces without needing to pay any price, nor did he need to start from scratch. With Xiahou Yuan's deterrence, no Devil Head dared to harbor any other thoughts.

You must know that twenty-five years ago, Xiahou Yuan's Physical Body and Primordial Spirit were locked down and suppressed on the eighteenth floor beneath the Great Abyss.

Those Devil Heads did not even dare to approach slightly to kick a man when he was down.

Even as strong as Ninth Realm Demonic Lords, they would only watch from outside the Great Abyss for a moment, and after confirming that Xiahou Yuan could not come out, they would leave in a flash.

One could imagine the fear the world's Devil Heads held toward Xiahou Yuan.

"Yes."

Demon Lord Mo Yang slowly stood up and said respectfully, "Your subordinate will go retrieve it for the Exalted One right now."

Not long after,

Demon Lord Mo Yang walked into the grand hall once again.

Behind him followed several subordinates carrying a pile of jade stones.

"Exalted One, these are all the intelligence regarding the situation of the Five Regions. Among them, the intelligence of righteous forces such as the Heaven Sword Sect is right at the front."

Demon Lord Mo Yang said respectfully.

Even if Lin Yuan hadn't mentioned it, Demon Lord Mo Yang paid close attention to the movements of righteous forces like the Heaven Sword Sect.

"Not bad."

Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

Then he picked up the jade stones, extended his mind into them, and quickly received the information.

A moment later,

Lin Yuan put down the jade stones and furrowed his brows slightly.

The jade stones presented by Demon Lord Mo Yang numbered in the hundreds,

recording the intelligence of all sides in the Five Regions in meticulous detail.

And within these were the information Lin Yuan cared about.

"Twenty years ago, auspicious signs suddenly appeared at the mountain gate of the Heaven Sword Sect, gathering a massive amount of heaven and earth Origin Qi."

"Fifteen years ago, the mountain gate of the Heaven Sword Sect gathered heaven and earth Origin Qi once again. For the two years following that, the Origin Qi within a radius of a hundred miles of the Heaven Sword Sect was sparse."

"Four years ago, the Heaven Sword Sect gathered heaven and earth Origin Qi once again, and all living beings nearby felt as if Mount Tai was pressing down upon them."

Numerous pieces of information gathered in Lin Yuan's mind.

The Heaven Sword Sect possessed a large Heaven-grade Origin Qi vortex, and the Origin Qi within the sect was abundant, sufficient for the daily consumption of Ninth Realm practitioners.

Even so, there had still been five instances where it caused the convergence of Origin Qi within a radius of hundreds of miles.

What did this matter explain?

It explained that the Origin Qi emitted by the Origin Qi vortex was no longer enough for a certain existence to Cultivate.

"The Tenth Realm."

Lin Yuan put down the jade stones, having a guess in his heart.

To be able to cause changes in heaven and earth Origin Qi on such a large scale, there was only the legendary Tenth Realm.

Of course, it didn't mean that Heavenly Sword Master had already broken through to the Tenth Realm; otherwise, Xiahou Yuan wouldn't have survived twenty-five years at all.

A Tenth Realm expert, even if Xiahou Yuan escaped with his Primordial Spirit, would find it very difficult to get away.

If Heavenly Sword Master had become a Tenth Realm expert, he would definitely have come to the Great Abyss in person at the very first moment to completely eliminate Xiahou Yuan, this thorn in his side.

It could only be deduced from the changes in the heaven and earth Origin Qi that Heavenly Sword Master was already attempting to impact the Tenth Realm.

And he was about to succeed, because the coverage range of the heaven and earth Origin Qi during the last time had already reached nearly a thousand miles.

"His Cultivation speed is quite fast."

Lin Yuan touched his chin. In Xiahou Yuan's memories, Heavenly Sword Master twenty-five years ago was indeed at the Peak of the Ninth Realm, but he was still quite a distance away from the Tenth Realm.

"However, no matter how fast he is, he is not as fast as me."

Lin Yuan did not care in the least.

Whether in the three previously shuttled worlds or the vast and boundless Main World, purely in terms of Cultivation speed, Lin Yuan had never seen anyone stronger than himself.

Perhaps special life forms with certain advanced Bloodlines or Peak Bloodline far exceeded Lin Yuan at the starting line, but their subsequent Cultivation speed was definitely inferior to Lin Yuan's.

"Let's break through to the fifth tier first."

Lin Yuan did not feel any pressure at all.

If it were the original Xiahou Yuan, the first thing he did upon breaking free would probably be heading outside Heavenly Sword Mountain to exact revenge on Heavenly Sword Master, as well as questioning Bai Qing'er why she betrayed him.

Only,

Lin Yuan wasn't that foolish.

With his current strength and methods,

even if he truly encountered a Tenth Realm expert,

he could exchange a few moves or even fight evenly back and forth.

But there was completely no need for that.

What Lin Yuan abhorred the most was a match of evenly matched opponents.

Relying on Heaven-Defying Comprehension, he only needed to Cultivate for a few decades to completely surpass the opponent by a major Realm or even several major Realms, sweeping everything away in a crushing posture.

Why rush for this moment?

"Where is the main body of the Origin Qi vortex beneath this underground palace?"

Lin Yuan sat high on the master seat and suddenly spoke.

"Reporting to the Exalted One, your subordinate is incompetent and has yet to find the main body of the Origin Qi vortex," Demon Lord Mo Yang said with a shamefaced tone.

The main body of the Origin Qi vortex was also called the Origin Qi Spring, which was the source of the vortex's Origin Qi.

It was just that the Origin Qi Spring was hidden deep underground, surrounded by a massive amount of heaven and earth Origin Qi, making it very difficult to lock onto its specific location.

After Demon Lord Mo Yang discovered this Origin Qi vortex, he searched for decades without finding it, and in the end simply stopped looking, directly building the underground palace to Seal off the Origin Qi emitted by the vortex.

Anyway, the Origin Qi Spring was right underground and wouldn't run away; he could just slowly look for it in the future.

"It's fine."

"Today, I will find it for you."

Lin Yuan stood up and walked toward the depths of the underground palace.

Seeing this, Demon Lord Mo Yang and the other nine Demonic Lords immediately followed closely behind.

"Exalted One, wait for me."

Nuan Shu immediately stuck close behind Lin Yuan.

Not knowing how long they had walked,

"Can the Exalted One really find it?" Demon Lord Mo Yang and a few other Demonic Lords looked at each other with some doubt.

Even a Tenth Realm expert would find it very difficult to directly lock onto the location of the Origin Qi Spring.

This had nothing to do with strength; around the Origin Qi Spring, the heaven and earth Origin Qi was dense, invisibly suppressing the practitioner's perception and Divine Thought.

As strong as a Tenth Realm expert, without perception and Divine Thought, searching for the Origin Qi Spring underground was just like being blind, no better than a Ninth Realm practitioner.

Right at this moment,

Lin Yuan in front suddenly stopped in his steps.

"Exalted One."

Demon Lord Mo Yang was about to speak.

But he saw Lin Yuan raise his hand and gently press toward the front-right.

Rumble…

A large expanse of soil collapsed,

revealing a dim space.

They saw a pool of milk-white spring water gushing out continuously.

The spring water was several meters in radius, bottomless within, and surging heaven and earth Origin Qi pressed within the spring water. If one observed closely, they would find that all the spring water was composed of highly concentrated heaven and earth Origin Qi.

In addition, around the spring water, several exotic flowers and rare herbs were blooming.

"The Origin Qi Spring?"

Demon Lord Mo Yang widened his eyes and subconsciously swallowed his saliva.

Whether righteous practitioners or Demonic Path practitioners, they could all Cultivate by absorbing and exhaling heaven and earth Origin Qi.

It was just that for Demonic Path practitioners, this method's efficiency was too low; how could it be as fast as directly killing people and plundering?

But the Origin Qi Spring before them was filled with a massive amount of heaven and earth Origin Qi that had turned into substance, which was a great tonic even for Ninth Realm Demonic Lords.

"It's probably a medium-sized Heaven-grade Origin Qi Spring. Not bad, not bad. With this Origin Qi Spring, breaking through to the fifth tier won't be a problem."

A joyful smile appeared on Lin Yuan's face.

The Heaven Sword Sect's Origin Qi Spring was at least large-scale, being a tier higher than the Origin Qi Spring before Lin Yuan.

Yet when Heavenly Sword Master impacted the Tenth Realm, he certainly wouldn't dare to absorb and exhale that Origin Qi Spring with all his might. After all, the future Disciples of the Heaven Sword Sect depended on that Origin Qi Spring for Cultivation.

Therefore, over the past twenty-something years, Heavenly Sword Master had impacted the Tenth Realm several times by adopting the method of absorbing and exhaling the Origin Qi within a radius of a hundred to several hundred miles.

This method was slow to show results, but there was no other way.

But Lin Yuan was different; he had no burden whatsoever regarding using this Origin Qi Spring.

"Moreover, the dozen or so Spirit Medicine around the Origin Qi Spring are all treasures, no less inferior to four-star and five-star cosmic rare treasures."

Lin Yuan's gaze was slightly heated.

"I will enter seclusion to make a Breakthrough right here."

Lin Yuan immediately made a decision. If he didn't seize such an excellent location for a Breakthrough, it would simply be a waste.

Just as Lin Yuan entered seclusion to make a Breakthrough to the fifth tier,

across the land of the Five Regions, due to the birth of Demonic Lord Xiahou Yuan, the impact grew increasingly profound.

"Xiahou Yuan has come out; the world from now on is probably not going to be peaceful."

"Indeed. If I were Xiahou Yuan and had been suppressed for decades, I would definitely exact a fierce revenge after coming out."

"Sigh, I wonder when the disputes in this world will ever stop."

"Stop? As long as people exist, it cannot stop. Twenty-five years ago, the righteous forces launched the righteous-demonic war under the banner of suppressing and killing Xiahou Yuan to restore peace to the world."

"But what about afterward? Xiahou Yuan was indeed suppressed, but the world was not at peace. Instead, those Devil Heads acted like they had lost their shackles and went mad."

The major forces and practitioners of the Five Regions communicated rapidly.

Especially those forces that had once participated in suppressing Xiahou Yuan suddenly panicked, worrying whether Xiahou Yuan, after breaking free, would target them at the first instance to collect some interest for the matters of back then.

"No, this old man is going to the Heaven Sword Sect to discuss what we should do next."

"Indeed, if it weren't for Heavenly Sword Master back then, we wouldn't have offended Xiahou Yuan to that extent."

"Let's go find Heavenly Sword Master to demand an explanation."

Practitioners from numerous forces, not lacking Ninth Realm Experts, headed toward the Heaven Sword Sect one after another.

At the same time,

Heaven Sword Sect,

clouds and mists drifted ethereally,

just like a fairyland.

Suddenly,

rumble…

an extremely terrifying aura continuously permeated. Beneath this aura,

even high-and-mighty Ninth Realm Experts would feel unsettled in their minds.

"Sect Leader."

"The Sect Leader has emerged from seclusion."

Seeing this, elderly members of the Heaven Sword Sect turned excited and bowed toward the palace on the highest Peak.

Half a month later,

the terrifying aura enveloping the entire palace gradually dissipated, and a white-haired man slowly walked out of the palace.

"Heavenly Sword Master."

"Greetings, Sect Leader."

"Sect Leader, you have finally come out."

Numerous Heaven Sword Sect Disciples breathed a sigh of relief. During this period, Experts from the Five Regions came every day, wanting to seek an audience with Heavenly Sword Master to inquire about how to deal with Xiahou Yuan.

If it were one or two people, it wouldn't matter.

As the number one force of the Five Regions, with Heavenly Sword Master being the number one expert under heaven,

they could completely suppress the situation.

But those who came were not one or two people,

but a hundred, two hundred, hundreds, over a thousand.

And they were all helmsmen of major forces, or simply Ninth Realm Experts.

As a result, the Heaven Sword Sect could somewhat not hold up.

Especially with Heavenly Sword Master—the core figure of the Heaven Sword Sect—still in seclusion and unable to show himself,

goodness knows how much pressure the Heaven Sword Sect had endured during this period.

Only now,

everything was over.